Bronco bustin' at the HQ

"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the
timid." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

First let me get something straight - I am not a Denver Broncos fan. I could care less for the "Orange Crush." I root for the Broncos when they are playing the Steelers or anyone who they can help the Titans or Patriots with by beating. That being said, we were paid a visit by the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders the other day. It was a Sunday and I was at the HQ catching up on a few things in my office. There had been a rumor they were coming but it had been squashed earlier in the day by news that they had cancelled. Well that changed. About an hour after I was told they weren't coming by I had a surprise visit by the MWR coordinator for COB Speicher. He announced that the ladies were at my HQ and standing by in an adjacent conference room. Would I like to say a few words to them before they had their "meet and greet" with my Soldiers? Honestly, I was a bit skeptical of the whole idea. I'm a big fan of celebrity USO visits but I just have never been certain of what we could expect from professional cheerleaders. Their visits seem to run contrary to our strict adherence to a no sexual harassment policy. Aren't cheerleaders best known for their sex appeal? So with a conflict in my heart, I walked over to the conference room to meet the ladies.

When I walked into the conference room it sounded like the chatter of coeds. But it immediately got quiet and I was greeted by wonderful smiles. That put me slightly at ease. I then introduced myself to them as the Battalion Commander and told them about the Soldiers in the unit. I let them know where they were from, what type of work we did in the Battalion, and a generic overview of our mission. Then I thanked them sincerely for visiting us and taking time to cheer the morale of our team. These young ladies then stood and one by one came to me, firmly shook my hand, looked me in the eye and thanked me for allowing them to be there. It struck me then that these cheerleaders were very professional, well-spoken, and sincerely grateful of all of my Soldiers. They were here for us, not the other way around. We then moved outside where many of my Soldiers were waiting. The cheerleaders immediately mingled, sang "Happy Birthday" to one of my truck drivers, and took group photos. When it was time to go back inside to sign autographs (it was blistering hot outside) they asked if I would give them their "rally cry" to move out. So I used my best command voice and popped off with "Cowgirl up!" They then made a whooping noise and moved single file back to the conference room for autographs. Then they took the time to sign autographs for every single one of my Soldiers who came to see them. When they were done, they once again filed past me and thanked me again. They then presented me with an autographed Denver Broncos Cheerleaders calendar made out specially for me. It now adorns the wall in my office. I was skeptical of this whole visit but my attitude was completely changed. On behalf of the entire Battalion, I want to thank the Denver Broncos organization and, especially, the cheerleaders for sacrificing of your time to be with us. You brought smiles to my Soldiers, laughter to my HQ, and put all of us in a mindset that helped us forget about our daily stresses for a few minutes. For that we are eternally grateful. I'm still not a fan of the Broncos but I am a fan of the cheerleaders. You may come back to see us anytime you'd like.

The day after the cheerleaders brought smiles to all of us our hearts were saddened at news that came from the south. A rocket attack slammed into FOB Loyalty on the outskirts of Baghdad during the night and killed five of our fellow Warriors. Five others were seriously wounded in the attack. It was a sobering reminder that this is a war zone and hostile forces are still at work. Our prayers and thoughts go out to the families and Comrades of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and those who were injured. When one bleeds we all bleed. We will NEVER leave a fallen Comrade.